UK CBD Companies Reach Novel Foods Safety Management Stage
In what many in the CBD industry see as a significant breakthrough, The European Commission (EU) granted safety approval to two Novel Foods applications for CBD products in the United Kingdom based on the companies meeting the EU’s FSA Scientific Committee safety criteria. It is a significant step towards the final stage of formal Novel Food licensing. The safety approvals were for 10 mg of CBD in supplements, beverages and confectionaries and 10 mg in food supplements for two companies. The 10 mg is the Acceptable Daily Intake the FSA Scientific Committee approved last year.
The EU defines novel foods as ingredients or foods that humans did not consume in the EU before May 15, 1997. Cannabis Sativa L is the hemp plant. All hemp plant extracts and derived products were first placed in the Novel Food Catalogue in 2019. It was not until 2023 that the FSA said adults should limit their consumption of food or beverages containing CBD to 10 mg per day, the equivalent of five drops of 5% CBD oil.
The new approvals mean that, for the first time, the two CBD companies are much closer to offering new CBD products to the public. The companies successfully met the rigorous product risk assessment requirements and are now in the risk management stage. This stage is not the final one because the FSA must fully approve an application before a company is authorized to create new formulations. The industry expects these approvals to lead to more CBD product authorizations.
Government organizations move very slowly, and this seems particularly so concerning CBD. Perhaps these authorizations will influence other agencies worldwide, like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Congress, to take similar steps. Maybe the U.S. organizations could study the FSA Scientific Committee data to determine why the FSA believed there was enough data to support CBD as a supplement and a food and drink ingredient.
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